| About the Album |
| One careful listen to the songs of their new Epic album, The Young and The Hopeless, and the message is clear: Good Charlotte is growing up fast. In these 14 new original songs, all co-written by GC founding members and identical twin brothers Benji and Joel, the melodies are more diverse, the edge is more aggressive, the playing and singing are stronger and more confident than ever before. Whatever the style or subject matter, every track reveals new maturity, expanded creativity, and hard-won wisdom. The Young and The Hopeless was recorded between February and May 2002. Good Charlotte worked with Eric Valentine, who produced, mixed and recorded the album at his own Barefoot Studio in Hollywood, CA. Valentine's previous credits include Third Eye Blind, Smashmouth, the Dwarves, and Queens of the Stone Age. "Eric's main job was to make us play the best we could play on this record," explains Benji. "We recorded mostly in full takes, without editing. That was hard, but I�m really glad we did it. You can tell it�s authentic." The brothers had no trouble coming up with new material, their intensive roadwork acting as a creative stimulus. "I write better on tour," says Benji, "in places where I don�t know anyone, where I�m in the middle of nowhere." "Joel�s got this flair, this spark--that�s why he�s the lead singer--and a lot of times he can take a song from being just okay to being great. At other times, he'll have ideas and not know what to do with them. But I�m good with structures and arrangements, so we work well together even though we're really different people." |
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